Can Crime Prediction Software Stop Criminals?

10/16/2013 4:50AM

Predicting crimes before they’re committed might sound like Hollywood’s “Minority Report,” but a new computer program called PredPol is doing it in real life—with some success. The WSJ’s Michael Kofsky reports.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... before they start with only the reality that read in the Hollywood movie minority report ... with the new computer program is doing just that in the United States and ... with success with property crimes costing us fifteen billion dollars in twenty twelve ... there is a very good reason to invest ... in prediction protection ... as the Wall Street Journal's Michael Kosky ... before ... police patrol the streets of Los Angeles the is a traffic stop and make an arrest ... the scenes might seem like any day in the wake of a police officer ... but new crime prevention software called credible short for predictive policing ... aims to make police work anything but random he ... identifies areas in your division ... and the highest risk of a crime occurring during a certain time period ... Cathy Schoen Alan ASCII is the commanding officer at the Foothill community police station ... a division of the Los Angeles police Department ... and one of the first apartments in the United States to test protocol ... twice today his officers get a list of twenty five hundred ft by five hundred ft boxes to patrol ... the most common crimes burglary ... burglary for motor vehicle and that the sell ... out of the fifty one hundred plus boxes the mobile division ... and these are the ones that have the highest probability ... on axe ... after randomized test run by the department that pitted the software against a human analyst ... the results are promising burglary at a twenty five percent decrease in its twenty two times in a week ... every week that ... somebody came home from work and did not find their house burglar ... so how does it work ... triple identifies crime generators ... place is full of people are cars that create opportunities for criminals if you take your car in you going Park ... at let's say a major transit hub and then take the train downtown to lots of people who can see your car ... and see that you left ... some money nor a laptop sitting on on the front seat Pimco also forecast repeat victimization ... if your house was broken into once there's a higher chance it'll happen again ... offenders say I'd ... like to go back to the places where it was successful before because I know what the risks are and India repeat victimization ... if your home is burglar to your neighbor's home has higher odds it might be too ... and why is that is because your neighbor's house a lot like her house ... um I guess they are minority report ... triple doesn't predict who will commit future crimes ... only where a crime might occur ... and then actually may reduce the number of arrests but stopping crimes before they start ... when a Tele ounces ... I need you to disrupt the time ... the newbie in the box ... and an IV criminally opportunity to commit the crime the results we discovered the narcotics said ... while she our interview with Captain now nasty officers returned to the station with bits of egg of methamphetamine valued at thousands of dollars ... found inside a Prebble box and leader that night during a routine patrol officers found this woman ... with a one hundred thousand dollars worth of warrants out for a rest ... she was sitting in a suspicious car parked inside one of the purple box ... the was this the result of a computer algorithm ... or just an old fashioned police work ... for some the jury's still out ... in force it doesn't take into consideration ... you know the object of things we see in the field ... the subject of things that officers come on know intuitively ... solat now but it's and it's it's a bit attempted to go pro ... but now a nasty things it does work and that the cost is worth it when you look at the crime reduction ... in any year ... you're probably saying saving and cost to society about two million dollars just in my division was ... now installed in police stations from Seattle to South Carolina ... perhaps triple C and save your home for burglary ... without you ever knowing it